Good for Each Other
by imawalrus
Summary: Despite all the fighting, all the hate, they are teammates, they are friends, and maybe a little more. SasuNaru drabbles. Rating is to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Yaoi-ish, SasuNaru. Silly. I can do silly every once in a while.

-

_Incriminating Evidence_

Deep in the recesses of their mind they still held onto the primitive urges to hunt and trap and catch. They had the information that was passed down through years of evolution and now inhabited their minds. They knew how to corner the prey and leave it with no escape route. However, they hadn't seen this coming, and it confused them because they sensed something wrong.

As the rabid horde of fangirls closed in on Sasuke, he froze and realized how incriminating it looked for him to have one hand down Naruto's pants and the other tweaking the blonde's nipple.


	2. Chapter 2

Light shonen ai. SasuNaru. Sasuke loves Naruto, he's just cold.

-

_Sasuke's Weakness_

When Naruto slept, he liked to take over the whole bed. Sasuke found this out through a firsthand experience. He had been sleeping peacefully, probably dreaming of his glorious victory over Itachi and saving Naruto once again, when a hand came down on his face.

It hurt.

Naruto woke up because Sasuke smacked back; he blinked with sleepy blue eyes. "I'm sorry," he murmured, not knowing why, and kissed Sasuke deeply. Naruto snuggled up against Sasuke, and he found himself forgiving the blond, because, really, Naruto could be too damn cute sometimes.

But nobody would _ever_ hear that from Sasuke.


	3. Chapter 3

They can't stay explosive forever. They will grow up eventually.

-

_Love_

Sasuke had left as a young punk kid. He came back as a forlorn and haunted young man. They'd had some infamous fights when they were young and impetuous. They'd had some destructive ones when they were older and bitter.

Tonight, on the eve of his twentieth birthday, he slept at Sasuke's house. The two shared a bed because, even though Sasuke inherited a lot of money, he tried not to use it and his small apartment had one bed.

Lying next to Sasuke, Naruto realized he loved the other, and he wanted to fall asleep like this every night.


	4. Chapter 4

Sasuke and Naruto, what makes them different. Don't forget, they are best friends, but they still can't understand one another because they're so different.

-

_What's Easy and What's Hard_

"Sakura's dead, Naruto! Why do you find it so hard to let go?"

"Why do you find it so _easy_?" Naruto shouted.

"It's a fact, it's the truth, and it's not going to change," Sasuke stated.

"Why is it so easy for you to stop caring? Why's it so hard for you to _feel_ something?" Naruto demanded.

"You're not angry at me."

"That's where you're wrong," Naruto growled. "I _am_ angry at you; for being able to so easily throw aside people you care about."

"You can't be angry at me for my personality."

"Then don't ridicule me for mine."

-

**A/N The concept was kind of taken from Lost. Locke and Jack make me think of Naruto and Sasuke: one believes easily and the other is cold and clinical, dependent upon hard facts. And no, I don't think Naruto would ever _really_ use the word 'ridicule.'**


	5. Chapter 5

This has got to be the longest one-shot in this whole SasuNaru series

-

_Sweetest Couple_

After Tsunade-hime takes the seat as the Godaime Hokage and becomes Konohagakure's first female leader, Iruka notices a rise of females attending the ninja academy. These girls are strong and seem to have no troubles keeping up with the boys, and even surpass in areas like chakra control. For the longest time the job of shinobi was one held in the majority of males, but now females seemed to be getting a different idea. Iruka notices one day that his classes almost have an equal number of girls and boys.

The changes are so dramatic that the academy has to throw out the old system of matching genin teams, which had consisted of pulling together two boys who balanced each other out (usually meaning they were opposites in some manner) and a girl who could match them. Now the teams are simply put together in order to balance them out equally, regardless of each new genin's gender. As a result there are some teams with two girls and one boy, or even all girls.

It was much easier for teams to be made equal this way. Some teams got the poor end of the deal when teams like Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were put together based on the old system. However, this means they also have to raise the number of teams that will probably pass the tests their jounin team leader give them. The number of shinobi in Konohagakure suddenly rose as a result.

While Iruka got first choice in putting together the teams, the Hokage usually allotted the sensei. In a show of Tsunade's cruel sense of humor she gave Shikamaru a team made up entirely of all girls. However her twisted humor didn't end there as she decided to put an Uchiha under Naruto's command. This, of course, was the cause of many disastrous fights between the two that managed to bring about major property damage and eventually got Naruto evicted from his apartment building. Also, Sasuke had taken this as an invitation to pop in during training to express his disapproval of Naruto's teaching methods.

This resulted in more property damage as well as environmental damage as trees couldn't withstand Rasengan or Chidori quite as well as either of the two men could.

However a few months later some had to wonder if Tsunade had the right idea when she matched up Naruto to teach Sasuke's bastard child. Even though Sasuke continued to heckle Naruto and Naruto continued to tease and prod Sasuke, the two no longer fought seriously and even got together once a week for sake, and twice otherwise to go out for dinner (once to Ichiraku's and once to a place of Sasuke's choice).

Everything had settled into an easy sort of peace with Sasuke's son acted as a connecting bridge between Sasuke and Naruto. The two found reasons to be around each other while the boy was under Naruto's tutelage.

A few years passed and Sasuke's child had moved up to chuunin easily and then jounin shortly after that, and the boy grew up and wanted to move out and in with a group of his friends. Plus he was always out for solo missions which left Sasuke at home to worry and Naruto at home with no real job until he was name Rokudaime. Suddenly it seemed like the two old friends had no real excuse to be around each other constantly, always in the presence of one another and a lot of truths seemed to come to light all of a sudden. So the two moved in together.

And a mere three months after that, they were, according to any girl asked, the sweetest couple in town.


	6. Chapter 6

Because pre-dead-Uchiha-family incident Sasuke would have been a really nice boy, and a good friend for little Naruto.

-

_Smile_

Sasuke felt tall being carried on Itachi's back.

The sun was setting and there was one other person on the streets, a small boy who Sasuke looked at curiously. He was blonde and skinny with marks on his cheeks. Sasuke saw dry tear tracks against the dirty face.

He looked up and watched enviously at Sasuke and Itachi passing. Sasuke found himself staring into the light blue eyes.

"That boy seemed lonely," Sasuke said once they passed.

"Naruto _is_ lonely. He has no parents. No big brother."

Sasuke hugged Itachi tightly. "I wish I had smiled at him just then."


	7. Chapter 7

Just a really short piece on Naruto being all open to Sasuke

-

In the past few years that Sasuke had grown to really know Naruto, he had seen the blond cry a hefty number of times. The stupid dobe had been crying when Sasuke got stuck like a pincushion with Haku's needles. Then there was the heartfelt confession Naruto gave to Sasuke at the Valley of the End. Later when he was trying to convince Sasuke to come home after infiltrating Otogakure (honestly, Sasuke shouldn't have let Naruto sneak back out without alerting anybody). Fighting Sasuke that last time in Kusagakure Naruto had fairly broke down half way through (though in Naruto's favor so did Sasuke at the end, but no one was ever going to learn about _that_).

It really took Sasuke by surprise when Sakura mentioned, after they had witnessed Naruto hold back tears when Konohamaru was admitted to the hospital for injuries, "Naruto doesn't cry. I've only seen it once."

He opened his mouth and closed it again. "Really?" He finally asked surprised.

"Why?" Sakura asked him.

"Well… I've seen… never mind," he stopped thinking that perhaps Naruto wouldn't appreciate Sasuke spreading rumors about Naruto crying. Since when did he get so sensitive to the blonde's feelings?

Sakura seemed to understand. She nodded her head and let out a low "hmm". Then she turned to him with a wicked smirk, "Figures he'd only cry in front of you." Then she vacated the premises before Sasuke could allow his brain to process what she was implying.

"Stupid girl."

-

Naruto laid his head down on the table with an exhausted sigh. "I could just sleep for days right now."

It struck Sasuke at that moment just how vulnerable Naruto allowed himself to get around his one-time rival. The blond practically fell asleep on Sasuke's shoulder half the time when at one point he didn't like sleeping in the same room. Naruto let Sasuke patch him up when he got sloppy on a mission and then pretended that he was in perfect health if anyone came around.

And then there was the whole crying thing.

"Why do you let your guard down so much around me?"

Naruto didn't open his eyes. "If it bothers you that much I'll stop."

For some reason he felt like the other was mocking him. Apparently Naruto assumed Sasuke would deny and tell Naruto not to change. "Just answer the question."

"Probably because I figured you'd never care enough to ask." This time Naruto did lift his head and opened his eyes. "What's bugging you?"

"Sakura's never seen you cry. Yet I've seen it a dozen times."

"You make it sound like a dozen is a large number," Naruto teased. "Trust me; there were a couple million times I didn't allow you to be privy to."

"But why did you allow me to witness those times."

Naruto stood up at that moment and turned his back to head into his bedroom. "Why not? You're like a brother, aren't you?"

As Naruto disappeared into his bedroom Sasuke stayed in his place before he turned in for the night in his own bedroom. Like a brother. There was something different. At one time, Sasuke had been secretly pleased to know Naruto felt they were so close. Yet, at the same time, he really didn't like the title.

"I don't want to be brothers," he decided before turning his back on his room and bursting straight into Naruto's. Vaguely he realized the blond had yelped in surprise as the bedroom door was flung open. "I don't want to be brothers." He leaned down the few centimeters that separated them and kissed Naruto firmly on the lips.

"Good thing for that," Naruto murmured, "because my dreams are not family appropriate."

Sasuke sighed and dropped his head onto Naruto's shoulder. "Dobe."

-

**A/N I guess Sasuke's OOC at the end, but deal, because I didn't want to drag this on into one of those soap operas where the two dance around each other. Tell me if there are any mistakes. I do my own editing.**


	8. Chapter 8

Mentioned SasuNaru. Written for all the people who think loving Sasuke would turn Naruto into an uber-wuss. He's tough, he's probably been through worse, and he's got _pride_ dammit.

-

_Tears_

Hinata was crying her soft, quiet tears into Naruto's shoulder, her nails digging into his bicep. At the center of the room Sakura was hemming the suit's pant leg, sometimes putting the needle down to brush her own tears away.

Naruto's face was dead and emotionless, yet he was the one who needed to cry the most. However, he would not let himself cry, because he had known one day Sasuke would need to marry to resurrect his clan.

Naruto would not cry, so the girls cried for him, and even the two of them couldn't cry enough for him


	9. Chapter 9

New longest story in the series! It turned out sort of the way I wanted it to.

_Under the Surface_

-

Even though she was their closest friend, their trusted teammate, and she knew them better than almost anybody else, it was still hard for her to see it sometimes.

Naruto seemed like he was normally a very open person, except that it was just another facet of his mask. Sasuke didn't bother to hide his mask. Both of their masks had become so much a part of them that people, even close ones like Sakura, had trouble deciphering what was underneath. Personally, Sakura had always thought that being openly affectionate made being in a relationship easier on both people, but apparently Naruto and Sasuke got along just fine without all that. The most touching they did in public were less affectionate than Naruto's behavior around Sakura, and if they could help it neither boy touched each other at all. They were just the same as ever and Sakura wondered sometimes if they were just 'fuck-buddies' or something equally crass, because all they did was fight and snipe at each other and purposely try to push each others buttons to get the other annoyed.

A lot of the times they spent outside of missions or training was alone, or with other people. Sakura never really spent much time with the two of them together just to hang out, and usually if Naruto agreed to go out, Sasuke would immediately turn down Sakura's offer. She got suspicious that maybe they were trying to not spend time with each other. Kakashi didn't know or care why they acted that way, especially since everyone knew they were… _something_.

No one really knew what to label Sasuke and Naruto's relationship. She supposed 'relationship' was the best term for it. 'Couple' seemed too boy-girl, shoujo ai, fluffy love and romance for the two boys who tried to kill each other once upon a time and now tried to horribly maim each other on a daily basis. 'Lovers' seemed too romantic, passionate love-making, and to be truthful, Sakura wasn't sure how much they'd done sexually, but she was pretty sure they didn't call each other 'lover.' And then there was the lovely term of 'boyfriend' which Sakura personally thought one would kill himself before admitting the other was something like that. Every term Sakura, or Shikamaru (at Sakura's constant insistence until he finally gave in to shut her up), thought of seemed too soft for the two, or too serious, or too fairytale romance and forever love.

Because, despite the fact that they had _something_ Naruto had made it abundantly clear that since Itachi was dead, if Sasuke ever decided to pull that running off crap again the last Uchiha would be brought back in a very tiny body bag containing whatever little bits that could be found.

Even though the two of them had never seemed to spend much time together, Naruto had complained recently, after making sure Sasuke wasn't around, that now that he was studying up on Konoha's laws before Tsunade stepped down and officially named him Rokudaime, the two barely saw each other at all outside of missions. Even their training sessions were suffering; something the two had been doing since they were fifteen. Studying was the reason Sakura was heading over to Naruto's house at all these days, and she had finally found some free time herself and she was bringing work as well as food since Naruto had probably fallen asleep studying again.

Quietly she let herself into his apartment, the front door was unlocked again, and she flipped on the light in the kitchen. Naruto wasn't slumped on the table in his usual spot, head laying on whatever manuscript he was trying to understand. She placed her papers and bag of food on the table, wondering if perhaps he wasn't home, or if he had turned in early for the night. Silently and slowly she made her way to his bedroom door which was slightly ajar and she peeked in, fully expecting to see Naruto passed out on his bed.

Sakura was completely unprepared to see Naruto curled up, head resting on Sasuke's lap, as Sasuke sat up reading through some of Naruto's manuscripts. One of Sasuke's hands was resting on Naruto's back and the Uchiha was reading by the moonlight rather than turning on a lamp.

Sakura smiled a little and backed up. She left the food for two on the table with the papers and let herself back out of Naruto's apartment. Maybe 'couple' was too soft for them, and 'lovers' too harlequin-romance, but they were in some sort of relationship, and Sakura could see it worked for them.

-

**A/N I really haven't checked this over for errors in grammar or spelling or anything. So feel free to correct me.**


	10. Chapter 10

I wrote this so quick and crappy… dammit.

781 words! I'm writing more!

-

_Guilt_

Sometimes Sasuke would lie awake, his body aching from continuous training, his head pounding from exhaustion, and his eyes burning from overuse. Yet, he wouldn't fall asleep. He made himself think of home, and he reminded himself of what he had given up, just how important getting stronger was, and what he could return to when he finally succeeded. Sasuke was punishing himself for not being strong enough to do this on his own that he had to run away to find someone to teach him.

He thought about different things each time. Sometimes he remembered events in the past, most good, some bad. Sometimes he imagined his homecoming or, more likely, the day when his former team caught up and dragged him home by force. Sometimes he just thought about one person. Sakura had changed from they had first been put on a team. Sasuke wondered how much she had changed since then, especially since there were whispers that the Godaime Hokage had taken in an apprentice. She would be strong and very skilled, especially since Sakura had always had the best chakra control. Yet still, when they met up again, Sakura would not be enough to give him a good fight. Kakashi was rarely on his mind, mostly because the teacher was an enigma. They had trained together for a month, Kakashi had pulled Sasuke in line whenever he was getting out of control, but still, Kakashi was nothing but a teacher. Sasuke would love the day he could fight and beat Kakashi. Naruto plagued his mind. Thoughts of the blond infested every thought Sasuke had. No matter who Sasuke was thinking of, Naruto showed up, the infernal idiot who couldn't learn when to just stop, when he should give up, and when he was going to _die_. Sasuke hated thinking that he would no longer be there to watch Naruto's back and make sure the idiot didn't get killed accidentally.

Naruto couldn't die before they met again, Sasuke knew that couldn't happen. Because when Sasuke finished his training and accomplished his goal, he was going straight back to Konoha and gluing himself to Naruto's side. The blond wouldn't be allowed anywhere unless Sasuke was there. The loneliness, the quietness, and somber mood that permeated through Otogakure was almost too much sometimes. Sasuke was kept underground mostly, he was hidden from other people as Orochimaru's future body, and the few people he did see never liked to spend more time than was necessary in his presence. They had all heard the stories. Uchiha Sasuke was so consumed by his need for strength that he was willing to sacrifice the best friend he had. Imagine what someone like that would do to a nobody who just pissed him off.

Sasuke hated it when he thought of that, because it was true, he had been that consumed, and fighting with Naruto hadn't helped any, especially as he saw Naruto just continue to get stronger and stronger during their match. Orochimaru had explained it to him: Kyuubi. He had learned how the demon was sealed inside of Naruto's body, how Naruto could use that chakra, how the whole village feared and hated the blond, and most of all, how no one knew what kind of long term effects would occur. Kabuto thought it was fascinating. Would the demon eventually break free? Would it merge with Naruto to much that Naruto began to lose himself? Or would the demon be trapped there, unwillingly lending its power? What kind of effects would that have on Naruto? Would he live forever? Would he die young? And what happened when Naruto died?

Sasuke hated thinking about it. All the worst scenarios popped into his mind: Naruto being overcome by the Kyuubi and someone needing to kill him; well that someone would not be Sasuke. He'd had his chance to kill Naruto, and he let it go, he did not want a second shot at it.

Orochimaru also taught Sasuke about Akatsuki. And their plans for Naruto and the other jinchuuriki.

Sasuke knew he had to kill Itachi before the traitor got to Naruto, because then avenging the clan would all be forgotten, all that would be on his mind would be avenging Naruto.

Sasuke needed to make amends with Naruto; he needed to show Naruto that he made a mistake, and that he was sorry for it. He needed Naruto to forgive him. He needed to somehow get rid of the guilt, because why else would the idiot be on his mind at all hours of the day. He just hoped that when he went home he finally be able to stop obsessing over the blond.

-

**A/N This spiraled out of control… I don't even remember what I had originally had in mind for this story, just something about Sasuke thinking about home. It wasn't supposed to turn out to have this much SasuNaru**.


	11. Chapter 11

This is a sort of depressing one. But the last line came to me and I wanted to use it and this is the story that built around it. Hope it worked.

-

_Lose_

Sasuke was absolutely horrified at the vision of what Naruto had become, what Naruto had achieved, when he first saw the once upon a time dobe. This is what Naruto had trained and managed to attain, and Sasuke's own accomplishments seemed to pale in comparison to the sheer raw power that Naruto exuded. The fact that Sasuke hadn't realized it even _was_ Naruto was a testament to how much power the blond had. Orochimaru had told him once that the strongest powers altered the person's very body. Naruto had gained those powers(1) and Sasuke had only touched the tip of the iceberg with his curse seal. A curse seal which he only had as a gift from Orochimaru, something that had been made by another, not Sasuke's own body.

Naruto had always loved fairytales, not realizing that he was trying to create a fairytale out of his own life, and failing miserably. The protagonist always needed his antagonist, there always needed to be some kind of mortal enemy, and there always needed to be a damsel. Naruto didn't quite realize when antagonist had become synonymous with best friend in his fairytale world, but it didn't matter because things were so perfect and happy in the life that Naruto strove to recreate by getting Sasuke back.

Sasuke didn't believe in that fairytale life because he'd had his own once, and he knew that those childish things always came crumbling down in painful explosions of reality. Naruto would have to learn the hard way. He told Naruto that he just couldn't relive the past; that once something was done and over it was _gone_. Naruto wasn't as good at letting go of things he believed in, things he believed precious, Naruto wasn't good at letting go of his fantasies.

"Can't repeat the past? Of course I can."(2) Naruto didn't want anyone to tell him what he couldn't do; he only wanted to prove to people that he could do whatever he put his mind to, that he could surpass what anyone expected of him.

So even though Sasuke was against it, Naruto brought him home after every last Akatsuki member was burned without any remnants left. Perhaps the fact that Sakura had to paralyze Sasuke temporarily should have clued them in, but they foolishly tried to reinstate Sasuke. Sakura was just as ridiculous as Naruto in that aspect, but even she gave up the first time he ran away for three days before Kakashi dragged him home with some lame excuse about Sasuke not _really_ trying to run away even though Sasuke's scowl and broken leg clearly said something else. Tsunade was just glad she had destroyed some of Sasuke's chakra points, leaving the Uchiha exponentially weaker. They wondered where he had been heading because no one knew where Orochimaru had slithered away to, but Tsunade had a suspicion that the snakes were keeping Sasuke informed.

Even on Naruto's induction, Sasuke managed to cause trouble by disappearing and causing Jiraiya to be suspicious of Sasuke planning some kind of attack, that maybe Sasuke hadn't cut all ties from Orochimaru. Naruto had used his power in office to do the things he always said he would do, like intervening with the Hyuuga clan and dissolving the separate houses. Naruto also freed Sasuke so that the Uchiha wasn't under constant supervision, but Tsunade refused to repair the damage she had caused, thus leaving Sasuke still crippled and weak. Trust was the name of the game and Sasuke didn't care about winning this one. By the end of that fist week Sasuke was missing again and this time Kakashi didn't return.

Shikamaru returned with Kakashi's body and a number of Leaf shinobi that Sasuke probably just ran across on pure accident. Within Naruto's first two weeks as Rokudaime the council pressured him until they pushed his hand and made him send out an order to capture Uchiha Sasuke dead or alive.

A week after Neji purposely brought Sasuke back dead.

Of the small number who attended the funeral Naruto held for Sasuke, only Sakura really wanted to be there, many of the rest, felt it was Sasuke's time anyway. Naruto stayed for long after, sitting on the ground next the Sasuke's unmarked grave that was only filled with ashes. The council didn't know Naruto had taken the ashes, and they didn't know about the grave, because missing-nin didn't get graves or any kind of burial service. Naruto was as obsessive over Sasuke's grave as he had been over the man. No one really understood it, why Naruto was so loyal to someone who had been so disloyal. Only Sakura seemed to touch upon the surface of what Naruto felt. She understood that Naruto was all about winning what he set out to do, that he still believed in his fairytale.

"In the end Sasuke was the only battle that Naruto couldn't win."

-

**A/N** 1. If you keep up with the current manga (chapter 293) you'll know what this is in reference to! I got so excited I would have gasped and jumped up and down but my roommate already thinks I'm weird enough.

2. Also the quote is slightly altered from _The Great Gatsby_, a book I didn't like, but a quote I did.

I barely edited this because I really just wanted to update with something, so if there are problems, just let me know.


	12. Chapter 12

It's over 1,000 words! I'll admit it's weird, it's choppy and the stories aren't really supposed to go together, but they connected slightly and I wanted it like this.

-

_Fox Mischief_

There was a mischievous fox that had tormented their small village. He took on the form of a human and ran through the town causing havoc, only to return to his fox form to retreat to the surrounding woods. For many years the people of the village ignored the fox and cleaned up the messes left behind, however a new village leader called for the fox's capture. Many more years went by without a capture, in fact none of the village men could even get close and some never returned because the fox was thought to be the least of the animals living in the forest.

One day they hired a man, a hunter, from another village to finally rid them of their fox problem. He was known for his ruthlessness in hunting and had never failed before, something that the villagers were counting on holding true. The girls sighed and swooned at his handsome face and the men were proud and confident that such serious lad would be successful were so many had failed. The dark haired man spent many days hunting out the fox, watching his movements when he entered the village. Finally, the man went into the forest.

After a fortnight he returned without any signs of a fight however the villagers were disappointed not to see the fox's body. He promised the fox would not bother the village again, and then disappeared back into the forest instead of leaving the village the way he had first entered.

Neither was seen again.

--

There was a mischievous fox that weighed heavily on the minds of the villagers. He took the form of a human but they all knew he was really a demon like the fox that was inside of him. For many years the only contribution he made to the village was to cause havoc and make messes for others to clean up. They waited until the day the fox would die. But many years passed and the fox grew and the fox prospered and the fox was happy. The villagers thought perhaps someone could chase the fox away.

One day the boy's best friend left and the villagers, excited, thought perhaps the fox would disappear with his friend but they realized the two were not best friends after all, and perhaps they were enemies. So when the friend returned the villagers were hopeful that finally he would kill the fox and rid the village of him. Instead the friend aided the fox and one day the fox was the most honored being in the village.

Never again was the village troubled only protected.

--

There was a mischievous fox that pulled pranks around school. No one knew just who 'fox' was, only that it was the only name left at the scene of the crime.

Sasuke knew better because he could see in the self-satisfied look on Naruto's face that the blond boy was 'fox' and he was happy to be getting some kind of recognition since his pranks were the talk of the school. The teachers were dying to figure out who 'fox' was so they could expel or at least suspend the perpetrator as an example. As class president Sasuke was approached to help in the efforts to find out who was behind it.

He spent a week convincing Naruto to stop, until the blond finally agreed. Sasuke could always get Naruto to do what he wanted.

--

There was a mischievous fox sitting on his bed. There was a wrapped present as well and Sasuke eyed both warily because Naruto liked to go overboard on birthday presents. Sasuke never understood why the other liked celebrating so much since it was just marking how much older they were getting (twenty-eight now) and the only people they had was each other. Another year gone by and both were still bachelors living in their two bedroom apartment.

Naruto probably could have brought a different girl home each week with his charming personality, however he never did. Sasuke probably could have brought a different girl home each night despite his lackluster personality, however he never did. Sasuke knew he'd rather spend a quiet night with Naruto, getting work done and watching whatever cheesy show Naruto was currently addicted to. Plus, bringing home a girl would mean relinquishing time spent with Naruto, who had been a constant in his life since the age of twelve, and many girls had not taken kindly to having to share with the best friend (except for that one girl who had wanted to have a threesome).

Sasuke accepted the box and after tearing the paper off and throwing it to the floor opened the box slightly excited to know what was inside. It was the watch Sasuke had been eyeing two months ago after he lost his boring old one, the expensive foreign-made one with tiny diamonds around the face. It was the one that cost about a month's pay.

Looking at Naruto's pleased face as he uncovered a tiny cake that the two could eat in one sitting, Sasuke just _knew_.

Three months later Sasuke sat nervously on Naruto's bed calming himself by repeating that Naruto hadn't dated a single girl in the past three months. In the kitchen there was ramen that Sasuke would prepare later for dinner. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke did not have a box holding a present; Sasuke had the present tucked away in one hand. Sakura had persuaded him that this was the right move, that it _had_ to be the right move, otherwise they were both doomed to unhappiness and that did not seem likely considering they had spent more than half their lives as friends.

It did not take Naruto long to figure out Sasuke was home and not in the kitchen, the TV room, or Sasuke's bedroom. Naruto poked his head into his bedroom and came in completely when he saw Sasuke sitting stiffly on the bed.

Chasing away the last of the butterflies Sasuke held out his hand and uncurled his fingers. Naruto stared in awe at the present there on the palm and for a moment Sasuke wanted to throw it away and tell Naruto that he didn't buy the idiot a present. Naruto did not take the present, only held out his hand and Sasuke took that as his cue to slide the plain gold band onto Naruto's ring finger. When Naruto smiled and kissed Sasuke and someone cried, or maybe both, and phone calls were made and cake and ramen was eaten.

Sasuke did not think he could love anyone anymore than he loved Naruto.

-

**A/N I'm going to try to work on another story for my Tenten fics now that I've satisfied my SasuNaruSasu need.**


End file.
